Downloading of a computer file from a file server to one or more client computers is known. The computer file may include executable software. In one specific example, the computer file may be a Windows® image file and supplies a Windows operating system to the client computers. The downloading process may employ a multicast protocol in which the computer file can be downloaded to several client computers concurrently. The computer file may be compressed and may include data, in addition to the executable software, that is needed by the client computer to utilize the computer file.
In the conventional downloading process, the entire computer file is downloaded to the client computer. Depending on the size of the file and the capabilities of the client computer, the file may be stored in memory or may be written to disk. After the image file is completely downloaded to the client computer, an “apply” process is performed on the computer file. The apply process involves decompressing the received file, performing any other necessary processing and writing the processed file to disk. The downloaded file is then ready for execution. Downloading of an operating system image file and performing an apply process on the downloaded image file may be referred to as “deployment” of the operating system.
It is apparent that the time for the conventional deployment process is the download time plus the apply time. This time can be substantial in the case of large files. Further, the conventional deployment process requires storage space for a full copy of the downloaded image file and for a copy of the decompressed file after completion of the apply process. In the case of large files, the storage requirements may be problematic.